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Watching a video of a straight shave demo by a renown barber recently.
He was suggesting longer strokes with the straight razor (shavette) which to me went against the grain so to speak.
Obviously there are areas of the face where you can't use long strokes but say the cheeks????
I have always used shorter strokes with both straight and DE razors.
What is the consensus? What length of strokes do you use?
Short strokes for me. Never thought about length but I bet an inch wouldn't be too far off. Give or take.
i use long strokes on my neck and cheeks. Short strokes on chin and upper lip.
Well it depends. Certainly there are areas of my face that are too confined for a long stroked and corners change things too. I do both long and short, probably about 50/50, of course that changes a little with direction to. As with many things straight related I have no hard fast rule.
Yup, as above.Quote:
Originally Posted by RezDog
Bob
The same, horizontally on the cheeks (1st from mouth to ear, 2nd from ear to mouth), and on the skull too.Quote:
Originally Posted by criswilson10
I shave and shape a beard so use short strokes and really short strokes around the line of my beard.
As long a stroke as i can. Short strokes just seems like a cut waiting to happen. (at least for me if a cut happens it's at the start of a stroke it seems)
Long strokes, except around the stache n goat.
During a ATG pass, I start at the base of my neck, and swoop it over the jawline in a C shaped pass, with the blade slightly slanted as well.
Warning.....not a pass for the novice.!!!
As is my so called..X Pass.
Attachment 307463
Attachment 307464
Its what I have to do, to obtain that BBS shave.
The length of the stroke is not as important as the speed of the stroke. If your speed is too slow, the blade will tend to stretch the hair (tugging) rather than severing it cleanly. Of course, the speed that you can control safely differs for each area of your face and depends upon your skill level and the contour.
All I do is scythe
medium strokes
As long a stroke as I can manage, except for the area under my nose and my bottom lip to the crease at my chin, lots of little strokes in those places.
I use both short and long strokes and everything in between.
Totally depends on the area and direction of the stroke.
Pete <:-}
Long strokes here. Early on I read that one should never shave where the lather is already removed from a previous stroke. I figured that the way to avoid that was by making the strokes as long as practical.
Right on Outback! A great illustration of how to get those tough spots on the neck BBS!Quote:
Originally Posted by outback
I allways giggle when a thread like this is opened.. Call me juvenile but gets me everytime reading members posts about their stroking technique.. I am with just about everyone else in that it depends on where im at on my face, what pass, what razor im using,.. Number of reasons why and where i use short or long strokes on a shave..
Usually most of the long strokes wind up being against the grain passes ala neck to chin. The rest vary I don't think about it much to be honest.
OK i call you juvenile. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by TCMichigander
Thank you all for your responses. Seems like most use long strokes where possible. I tend to use shorter strokes even on cheeks but what the heck,.....call me juvenile. :shrug:
As per length and speed of the strokes I‘ve done following observations (of cause strongly subjective and applies to my skin-hair-blade-hand combination):
When a razor/DE tends to produce irritation on my skin shortening up the shaving stroke noticeable helps me to achieve a comfortable shave. I move the blade in short strokes (about 1-2 cm). I believe this leads to following:
1. Lifting up the razor between the short strokes kind of “resets” the pressure applied to the skin. Doing so I can ensure the minimal shaving pressure. But maybe it’s just my hand...
2. Shorter stokes are automatically performed noticeably faster than long strokes. By this the razors blade seems to have better chance to slice through the hair. But maybe it’s my blade...
3. Shorter strokes also tendentially run a different “path” on my skin. Running long stroke the razors blade seems to run more perpendicular to the direction of the stroke. Whith short strokes the razor traces kind of Zickzack line and the blade runs more diagonal, which again increases the “cut-ability”. By this less pressure can be applied to achieve the same closeness of the shave.
Happy shaving!
Philipp
As a barber I bet his logic tells him long strokes = quicker shave & onto the next customer :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Raol
Mike-This is very similar to what I do around my goatee, which is sadly a lot grayer than yours. I also tend to do a lot of back and forth blade buffing in larger problem areas-might be why my blades need frequent touchups no matter how sharp?:shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by outback
Oh, and I'm glad I'm not the only one with an 8-year old's sense of humor around here!
I tend to do the longest stroke possible in each area, for no other reason than it being faster.
